Pedro Martinez

His phone has been ringing the last two weeks, as several major-league teams called with offers to pitch. Martinez, 38, was flattered but turned them all down. "Very tempting," he said Thursday, "but I have already committed to my kids for the rest of the year." Martinez, a three-time Cy Young Award winner, signed with Philadelphia in July 2009 and went 5-1 with a 3.63 ERA in nine starts. He's spent most of this summer in his native Dominican Republic. "It feels real good to be home - to go to the baseball field and see your kids playing is really something," he said. "It's a different life. I do miss competing."

Joe Namath

The Hall of Famer saw Jets linebacker Bart Scott's T-shirt and took a few photos with him. The line from a popular rap song - "Known to do the impossible like Broadway Joe" - was emblazoned across Scott's chest. Namath thought it was fitting. "To me, we have the most legitimate contender we've had," he said after watching practice. Since quarterbacking the Jets to their only title in 1969, Namath has seen many teams with high hopes fizzle. "This is what I'm saying: This team is more suited to follow through with a championship than what we've had out there," he said.